I'm in the county town, and you say I'm a big shot?

Chapter 788 Taking over Baoshang Bank? You're handing over such a mess to me?

Xia He was the first to tell Fang Qingye that Xiao Jianhua had been taken into custody.

Mainland media did not report on this matter; instead, Hong Kong media broke the news first. Xia He, who was in Singapore closely following Hong Kong's financial news, immediately called Fang Qingye after seeing the report.

"I didn't expect him to be caught so quickly."

"I'm afraid they've been watching us for a while now, it's just that the time is ripe." Fang Qingye said calmly, "The Mintian Group is probably going to face a purge."

“Yes… By the way, Aoba, JPMorgan Chase officially notified us yesterday that Mintian Group has failed to fulfill its obligations under the Phoenix Options Contract for several consecutive days. According to the default clause, the 2 million shares of Hengtai Securities that they pledged have been legally transferred to our trust fund. Now our trust has an additional equity stake.”

In the video, Xia He said with a smile.

"President Xia, congratulations, congratulations."

Xia He rolled her eyes at him: "Why are you congratulating me? This is all thanks to you... What do you think we should do with these shares? Continue to hold them or sell them? 2 million shares account for 9.11% of Hengtai Securities' total share capital, so we are already one of their major shareholders."

"what is your opinion?"

Xia He pondered for a moment: "I'm not very optimistic about Hengtai Securities' prospects. It went public last year and its performance has turned sour this year. It's obvious that it's just here to raise money. I suggest finding a suitable buyer off-exchange and selling it directly through block trades."

"Sure, you'll manage the trust fund now, and you'll be in charge."

Xia He glared at him again: "No wonder Bai Ou said you're always so lazy!"

"What, you and Bai Ou chat in private?" Fang Qingye asked, somewhat surprised.

"Don't worry about it!"

"Okay, okay, I don't care." After the Spring Festival this year, Xia He took her daughter to Singapore, and Fang Qingye and Bai Ou went to the airport to see her off.

Before parting, the two women huddled together and whispered for a while. Fang Qingye was curious about what they talked about and asked Bai Ou, but she refused to say. Later, she asked Xia He, but was given the same evasive answer.

"There's one more thing, Qingqing started kindergarten, it's the Eton International School I mentioned to you, it's near Sentosa and only a few minutes' drive away. The school environment is very nice, and Qingqing likes it very much after going there for a few days."

Xia He began to enthusiastically recount the interesting stories about her daughter's schooling.

Nowadays, when Fang Qingye chats with Xia He, she often listens to Xia He share about her daughter's daily life, and Fang Qingye always listens patiently.

"Oh dear...Are you at work? I'm not going to chat anymore, I don't want to disturb your work," Xia He said quickly, suddenly realizing something.

"It's alright, I'm not busy," Fang Qingye replied with a smile.

"Slacking off again..."

……

……

With Xiao Jianhua's arrest, the purge of the Mintian Group has begun. Regarding Baoshang Bank, the Inner Mongolia Banking Regulatory Bureau has dispatched a working group to conduct a comprehensive investigation, headed by Tang Qing.

As a director, Fang Qingye also received a formal notification from the China Banking Regulatory Commission and naturally needed to cooperate with the relevant work.

That evening, Fang Qingye received a call from Tang Qing discussing the matter: "President Fang, during our few days of investigation, we've discovered that Baoshang Bank has very serious problems. A large amount of funds have been misappropriated or embezzled by the major shareholder, with annual interest payments reaching tens of billions of yuan. The bank has been unable to repay principal and interest for a long time, and its insolvency is extremely serious. It seems likely that it will repeat the mistakes of Nanxin Rural Bank."

Fang Qingye remained silent. He had anticipated this outcome. It was just that because of his intervention, the bomb detonated earlier than scheduled.

That's good, as it will minimize the impact and losses.

"President Fang, let's talk privately." Tang Qing paused, then suddenly changed his tone, "I'd like to ask you something."

"Please speak," Fang Qingye said, perking up.

This seemingly casual tone often indicates that something important is about to be discussed.

Sure enough, Tang Qing said on the other end of the phone: "Does your Jinghai Bank, or rather you yourself, have any interest in Baoshang Bank? Have you considered participating in its restructuring? Some people say that your insistence on serving as a director of Baoshang Bank a few years ago was because you wanted to control it, just like you did with Nanxin Rural Bank back then."

"Moreover, I heard that some leaders of the China Banking Regulatory Commission also appreciate you and hope that you can take over the position."

Fang Qingye's answer surprised Tang Qing: "Director Tang, I never thought about taking over Baoshang Bank. To be honest, Jinghai Bank has already given me a lot of trouble, and I really don't have the energy to take care of anything else. After all, I have other businesses."

Taking over Baoshang Bank?

You're leaving me with this mess?
Baoshang Bank is not the same as Nanxin Rural Bank of yesteryear. It boasts 18 branches nationwide and 291 outlets, including community banks and micro-branches, and also controls several rural banks, making it over a hundred times larger than Nanxin Bank. Thoroughly restructuring and putting it on the right track will be no easy task.

Moreover, its roots are in Montreal, so it is ultimately an outsider.

Wouldn't it be better to go fishing and drink tea instead of spending that time and energy?
Of course, these words wouldn't be spoken to Tang Qingming, since Tang Qingming wasn't as familiar with Zhong He from the Jiangsu Provincial Banking Regulatory Bureau as he was.

If it's the latter, he'll dare to say it.

"Director Tang, after the rectification is completed, I plan to resign from my position as a director of Baoshang Bank and let someone more capable take over," Fang Qingye said at the end.

“I’m afraid that won’t work. The board of directors of Baoshang Bank does need to be re-elected, but you can’t leave. With you in charge, we feel more at ease with Baoshang Bank – that’s what our leader said.”

I ##￥%……

The liquidation of the Mintian Group is in full swing in the financial investment sector, but this has little to do with Fang Qingye. Apart from Baoshang Bank, Fang Qingye and his companies have no business dealings with the Mintian Group.

His focus now is on something else—the upcoming 2016 Wuzhen Internet Conference!

This year's Wuzhen Summit is being held a little earlier than last year, scheduled for November 16-18, with the theme "Innovation-Driven Development for the Benefit of Mankind: Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace".

Unlike last year, this year's summit, in addition to hosting 16 sub-forums and launching the "World Internet Leading Scientific and Technological Achievements Release" for the first time, also added a new feature: "Wuzhen Coffee Gatherings" held in ten venues in Wuzhen.

Unlike formal forums, the "Wuzhen Coffee Gathering" is a semi-official gathering, commissioned by the organizing committee to be hosted by well-known internet companies and relevant departments, aiming to provide a platform for industry leaders to speak freely. The event's names are also poetic: "Wuzhen Morning Light," "Discussing the Way Over Wine," and "Night Talk While Rowing," among others.

Internet giants such as Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu naturally participated enthusiastically. Unexpectedly, Wu Dong, the secretary-general of the conference organizing committee, personally called Fang Qingye, inviting him to host a conference under the name of Tuofang Technology.

Fang Qingye initially declined, saying: Tuofang Technology is not a true internet company, not even an internet company, so how could it be qualified to host the "Wuzhen Coffee Gathering"?
However, Wu Dong said that although Tuofang Technology is not entirely an internet company, many of its subsidiaries are well-known in the internet field, and Fang Qingye himself is now an important figure in the internet industry, so he is fully qualified to host the event.

"President Fang, I heard that after the first two Wuzhen Summits, many celebrities from the internet industry went to your nursery in Nanxin for tea. The scene was even more lively than Ding Lei's dinner party! Why don't you just move the tea party from Nanxin Nursery to Wuzhen?"

"Alright," Fang Qingye had no choice but to agree.

(End of this chapter)